By 1981, it was time for a change, and we moved to New York, but attrition was taking its toll — keyboardist John Linnell left to start They Might be Giants, and drummer Kevin Tooley also departed. We continued to write new material and recorded a demo produced by Mick Ronson, but in 1983 the Mundanes broke up.

Shortly thereafter, I was recruited by the Egyptians, another one of the several Providence bands that had made the NYC move at the same time. They played a very hip funk/folk/pop style (if your "folk" happened to be into Balkan melodies, that is) and featured the great popping bass of Mark White, who later propelled the Spin Doctors. The Egyptians were managed by CBGB manager Hilly Kristal, and had label interest; among the highlights of my year-long tenure were a gig with Spinal Tap at CBGB and a recording session where Grandmaster Flash was brought in for some turntable magic. I also started taking lessons with jazz guitar legend Sal Salvador, which lasted six years.

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